EPISODE 02: HOW TO FAST FORWARD YOUR LIST GROWTH

Transcription

1 EPISODE 02: HOW TO FAST FORWARD YOUR LIST GROWTH! 1 of 18!

2 Tell me if you ve done this before HOW TO FAST FORWARD YOUR LIST GROWTH Come up with a brilliant idea. Go into hiding while you create the brilliant idea. Emerge 6 months later with your shiny new product. Realize no one wants it. Sound familiar? It s called the Cycle of Guaranteed Failure. I m intimately familiar with it. I went through it over and over for 20+ years.! 2 of 18!

3 I would constantly get frustrated when I saw headlines like. Fifty Shades Of Grey Whips Past $500M At Worldwide Box Office or Angry Birds Maker Rovio Reports $200 Million In Revenue. What were those companies doing that I wasn t? How were they doing so well, yet I couldn t get people to buy my $0.99 iphone app? Then I started noticing something. I began to study people like Michael Hyatt, Pat Flynn and Seth Godin. Reading their books, listening to interviews and devouring every piece of information they put out. From all of that information, one consistent message began to emerge BUILD AN LIST. Build a list of addresses of people who WANT to hear from you. Then when you get ready to sell a product, just tell your list about it. It sounds overly simplistic. But so many smart people saying the exact same thing convinced me to try it. So I did.! 3 of! 18

4 For 10 months I focused exclusively on building my list. In 2014 I went from 200 subscribers to 10,000 subscribers. There is only ONE way to get traffic to your next blog post. Then I launched a product to my list in October. This was the first time I didn t have to cross my fingers and hope that people would magically find me and buy it. Instead I did this 1. Built an list. 2. Asked the list what they wanted. 3. Built that. 4. Gave it to them. The results? Over $25,000 of sales in 5 days.! 4 of 18!

5 BOOM! Cycle broken! Today I want to help you do the same thing. The first step you need to take in breaking the cycle is to start building your list. I m going to show you 4 strategies to SIGNIFICANTLY grow your list this month. Ready? Let s go.! 5 of 18!

6 Step 1: How to add 500 subscribers to your list this month The first thing you need to do is ignore headlines like the one above. ( How to Add 500 Subscribers to Your List This Month ) They ll mess with your head and discourage you when you don t get the results they promise. Instead, the first thing you need to do is to set a realistic list goal for yourself. There are three major milestones when you are building your list: 100 subscribers 1,000 subscribers 10,000 subscribers Each milestone unlocks an entirely new set possibilities for your business. (More on that in a later post.) Before you start building your list, you need to have a clear goal in mind. What are you working towards? And why are you working towards it? For example If you were just starting out and your goal was to sell copies of a book you are working on, your list goal might look something like this. List Goal = 100 subscribers! 6 of 18!

7 Why? So that when I finish writing my book I can tell my list about it and sell 25 copies and make $500 the same day. Or if you are a programmer, your list goal could look something like this... List Goal = 1,000 subscribers Why? So that I can find out exactly what type of iphone app they want and then build it and give it to them. Your action items for Step #1 are the following: 1. Set your list goal. (Pick your next milestone.) 2. Write your list goal on a piece of paper. 3. Tape that paper to the wall in front of your monitor. 4. Go into the PlatformU forum, post a picture of your goal, and tell us what you hope to do when you reach it. This is what it should look like when you are done:! 7 of 18!

8 This piece of paper should be your lighthouse. Every time you see it, stop whatever distracting and procrastinating activity you are working on and focus on your list. PRO TIP: I recommend downloading my new free app, List Goal. Not only will it keep you focused on your goal by constantly reminding you of it, but it will also show you your daily progress towards the goal and give you coaching tips along the way. Download List Goal by clicking here. Step 2: Rapidly backload your list with Eager Sneezers Now that you have a clear goal, it s time to start building your list. The first step is to personally invite every person you know to join. Don t make list building harder than it needs to be. Most people start their list with no industry authority and no clear topic, and then they try to convince complete strangers to join their list. That s silly. Don t do that. Instead, get people who already know you to join your list, and then incentivize them to get their friends to join. That can generate 100s of new subscribers to your list in just a few days time. In fact, 2 weeks ago I did a 48-Hour List Building Challenge where I was able to get 200+ subscribers to a brand-new list using this exact strategy.! 8 of 18!

9 Let s do a quick exercise Stop everything you are doing. Done? Now, take out your phone. Ready? Text your mom this exact message:! 9 of 18!

10 Press send. Within 5 minutes you should have your first subscriber.! 10 of 18!

11 See how easy that was? Now repeat this process for everyone you know. Friends, family, coworkers, church people everyone. This will fill your list with Eager Sneezers, people who like YOU and are excited about sharing anything you talk about (even if the subject matter isn t directly applicable to them). As a result, you ll be recommended to THEIR network of friends and have the opportunity to ask them to join your list as well. (More on that in the next step.) Your action items for Step #2 are the following: 1. Make a list of 200 people you know. (Use Facebook, Twitter, sent s and your phone contact list to help you.) 2. Send each person a personal invitation to join your list. (Use the template above as a good starting place.) 3. Then manually add them to your list. Don t mess with landing pages. 4. Go to the PlatformU forum and update us on your progress as you go. The goal of this exercise is to get 100 subscribers on your list. If you hustle, you should be able to do this in less than 7 days. Step 3: Send this to your list and get more subscribers Now you have a list of 100 people who like you and are excited to support you.! 11 of! 18

12 You goal is to get those people to refer their friends to join your list. To do that, send an to each subscriber and ask them to refer one friend to you. This is the exact template I use to do that! 12 of! 18

13 You can customize this to fit your exact application, but don t overthink this step. Don t try to automate this either (unless your list is well past 100 subscribers). With a small list, you should see 25-50% list growth. Your action items for Step #3 are the following: 1. Write an asking your subscribers to refer a friend. (Use mine as a starting point.) 2. Individually each subscriber with this template. Step 4: Setup your passive list building system Each strategy we ve covered so far has been very (how should I say it)... hands-on. Not exactly the type of strategies you think of when you think of getting 10,000 subscribers on your list. That s by design. If you started from scratch and you followed the steps I ve outlined so far, you should now have a list of subscribers. Whether you know it or not, you now have the ability to instantly get traffic and social shares to any content you produce.! 13 of! 18

14 Simply send an to your list with a link to the content. Minutes later, you get traffic. Those people will share it with their friends, which will generate more traffic. Let s shift our focus to capitalizing on that traffic. There is one strategy that you need to implement immediately on your website. That is a scroll box that sends people to your most popular blog post. Let me show you how it works First, a scroll box looks like this:! 14 of! 18

15 It s kind of like a pop-up, only a lot less annoying. It doesn t interrupt and block the content on your website. It works by sliding in on the bottom corner of your website whenever the reader reaches a certain point on your page. Scroll boxes are no new thing. They've been around for years. However, most people make the mistake of adding pop-ups and scroll boxes to their websites with ineffective calls to action. Stuff like Join my newsletter and Enter your below to get regular updates from me. Trust me: NO ONE WANTS YOUR NEWSLETTER. The way you phrase your call to action on your scroll box is extremely important. Instead of using Join my newsletter, what you need to do is find your most popular blog post from the past 6 months and use the headline of that article in your scroll box. You can find that article by using Google Analytics:! 15 of 18!

16 Once you ve identified your most popular piece of content, change the call to action in your scroll box to the headline of that article.! 16 of! 18

17 Now every time someone comes to your website, they will receive an invitation to join your list with a call to action that's already proven to be appealing to your target audience. I have experienced a large increase in conversions as a result of this strategy. Your action items for Step #4 are the following: 1. Install this free scroll box plugin. 2. Identify your most popular blog post (by using Google Analytics). 3. Customize your call to action in your scroll box with the headline of that post. 4. Send people to that article once they have opted in. PRO TIP: If you use pop-ups, use this exact same strategy for them as well.! 17 of! 18

18 Now It s Your Turn I ve shared three of the most effective list-building techniques I ve ever come across. It s time for you to take action. The only thing standing between you and building a powerful and profitable list is execution. Not learning more stuff. Not listening to another podcast. YOU! A few words of warning as you get started 1. Don t get bogged down in the details. If you hit a roadblock, quickly find a way around it. Don t make up excuses and stop working. Find a way. 2. Don t try to automate any of these steps. 3. Don t try to outsource the work. I m excited to see your list grow. Be sure to post your progress in the forums.! 18 of 18!